Data centers and other large computer systems can have many computing resources of many different types such as stand-alone computers, blade systems, rack systems, partition-able complexes, and virtual machines. Central management can assist an administrator in managing such complex systems. However, different data centers have need for different management features; also different computing resources within a data center may have different needs for management features. Accordingly, a variety of management software products may be available “a la carte”; furthermore, an administrator is often able to choose which nodes are to receive the benefit of a particular management product and to what extent.